Among the most important medical devices developed in the last half of the century is that of the implantable stent. Such a stent is used to maintain the patency or passageway through an artery or vein. Stents have found their greatest use in the heart propping open cardiac arteries.
Although stents have provided a major advancement in therapy for patients suffering from cardiac diseases, they still, nonetheless, fail to perform in all cases and for all time. Among the problems stented patients face is that of restenosis. Restenosis refers to the accumulation and subsequent arterial blockage in an artery near the stent. That is, although the stent provides an immediate improvement in blood flow, the artery in the region of the stent again occludes leaving the patient in the same predicament as he was prior to the stent's implantation.
Thus, among the objects of the present invention is to provide a stent which will minimize or eliminate the problem of restenosis.